Moments
by Phantom Rosabelle
Summary: Um. Well... there's Ashley and Andros, and talking, and Ashley thinks a lot during the talking, and then they get a call, and then they sit on the couch, and then they get off the couch, and nothing much happens for 2000 words. :D


**Disclaimer: **I don't own the Power Rangers, obviously. Miranda is the Phantom Ranger, so... she's not mine, either. I'd say that the plot was mine, but it didn't make an appearance, so. I really own nothing. :D

**Notes: **So, this story could be alternatively titled "Andros and Ashley Eat Cookies and Otherwise Act Totally PG Because I'm Lazy and They're Uncooperative :D". It was supposed to be _so not_ PG, but it turned out that way so I figured I'd post it here. This was written for Starlit Purple as part of the **funhappyprfic** holiday fic exchange on LiveJournal (there are some good stories over there; go check it out!). She requested Andros and Ashley being cute, which, thankfully, is really non-specific. I love her.

I've had a few requests for a follow-up to this, and I intend to write it sometime in the near future. I'm not sure that I'll be posting that follow-up here, though, as I'm intending for it to be rather porny. The kittens, though. I could post the kitten part here. So! If you're interested in reading the sex, let me know and I'll provide you with a link when it's written and posted elsewhere. I do plan to continue writing in this universe, though, 'cause I like it, so I'm expecting that there will be more to this. I hope you enjoy. :)

**Moments**

There was a light on in the kitchen. Ashley frowned as she saw it, certain that she'd turned it off when she had passed by earlier. She'd been expecting to have the house to herself for most of the day; Zhane and Karone were off somewhere, and Andros--

She sighed. _Andros._

For once, he'd been up before her, and he'd left the house just as she had wandered downstairs in search of breakfast. She'd been too sleepy to think anything of it at the time, but it occurred to her now that his meeting with Kinwon and Taikwa hadn't been for another two hours. It was probably nothing, she told herself, probably just another obligation that he hadn't mentioned to her, but she hesitated as she reached the foot of the stairs.

The kitchen doorway was just across from the stairway, and Ashley peeked through before she entered. If he truly wanted to be alone--as alone as one could be with DECA for company--there was the Megaship, but she was still reluctant to intrude if he wanted quiet. She hadn't been the cheeriest of company lately, either.

He sat on a stool at the breakfast counter, a reader in his hand. She wasn't close enough to see what it was, but from the frown on his face she guessed that it was news. Ashley tried not to sigh as she watched him. They were overdue for a re-delegation of their Ranger responsibilities. It wasn't fair of them to place the entire burden on his shoulders.

She rapped her knuckles lightly against the door frame to catch his attention. He started at the noise.

"I didn't think you'd be here." He smiled at her, and Ashley relaxed.

"I didn't think _you_ would be here," she returned, coming into the room. "Busy?"

"Not really." He took one more look at whatever it was on the reader before flipping the off switch. He set it to the side as the screen darkened, looking up at her again. "It wasn't work."

She looked at him, curious, but she didn't ask. "I came to get a snack," she said. "Want one?"

"No, thanks," he said.

Ashley saw him sneak another glance at the reader when he thought she wasn't looking, and she took a second plate anyway. There were still half a dozen cookies left over from her attempt to educate her housemates on her planet's Christmas traditions, and she set three on each plate.

"Here," she said, handing one plate to Andros. "Cookies always cheer me up."

For a moment she thought he would protest. He didn't, and by the time she'd sat down with a glass of milk and her cookies, he was on his second one. She caught his eye, and Andros smiled.

"Thanks," he said softly, and she smiled back at him.

Ashley broke one cookie in half. She set half to the side, and tapped the other half against the side of her plate before she took a bite. "So," she said as she swallowed, "are you going to tell me why you need cheering up?"

"No." He seemed faintly amused at her surprise. "You're going to tell me why _you_ need cheering up."

"I don't--" Caught off-guard, she started to protest.

"You do." He reached across the counter when she stared down at her cookies, touching her fingers. "Ash. There's something that's been bothering you."

"I--it's nothing," she muttered, her voice unconvincing even to her own ears. "I've just been..." She couldn't think of anything to finish with.

He waited.

Ashley stared down at his hand on top of hers, stroking his fingers as she searched for words. "A little bit homesick, I guess."

"Oh," Andros said. She glanced up, unsurprised to see him frown at her. "Are you not happy here?"

"No!" Her vehemence startled both of them, and she continued more quietly. "It's not KO-35 at all. Well," she said, reconsidering, "maybe it is a little, but not because there's anything wrong here. It's just not... what I'm used to."

"It's not home," Andros said.

"Home is wherever you are," she told him firmly. That, at least, she was sure of. "I want to be with you, wherever you are."

Andros needed to be on KO-35 almost more than KO-35 needed Andros to be there. He would have tried to divide himself between both worlds if she had stayed on Earth, but it wouldn't have been fair of her to ask him in the first place. Not when they were talking about the sister he'd spent his entire life looking for and the home he'd risked everything to fight for. Ashley didn't know how long she could have been happy in such a long-distance relationship, anyway, always having to wait until he had time to fly back to Earth, never being able to see him when she wanted to.

She didn't know what he would have done on Earth, either. There was NASADA, but she knew that he didn't particularly enjoy working with them, and she couldn't quite picture him in college with her... Andros was a Ranger. Not even Zhane, who had held the Power for nearly as long, was a Ranger the way that Andros was.

Especially not Zhane, she realized suddenly, who was a Ranger only because Andros was.

Ashley smiled faintly. Her own reasons hadn't been so different.

They still weren't. Her eyes drifted back to Andros. He was toying with his last cookie instead of watching her, his loose hair falling across his face and hiding his expression. Her smile widened. Had she told him how cute he was with his hair like that...? She couldn't remember now.

She leaned forward across the counter, reaching to tap his wrist. "I'm really glad that I came here," she said softly.

"I--"

The comm chimed in the living room. Andros frowned at the interruption, and Ashley found herself wishing that whoever it was would suddenly change their mind and try again later. The second chime was louder, though, and she followed Andros into the living room with a sigh.

"--morrow afternoon," he was saying. She was at the wrong angle to see who he was talking to, but the tone of his voice cut the list short. "Ashley and Zhane will meet you at the docks."

Thinking that it must be Cassie on the other end, Ashley stepped into the room. It wasn't, but the woman smiled pleasantly at her, and Ashley brightened. "Miranda!"

"Hello, Ashley." The former phantom tucked a few errant strands of hair behind her ear before continuing. "Cassie returns tonight, and we'll be leaving Eltare in the morning. We're expecting to arrive on KO-35 before nightfall."

"Wait, where's Cassie?" Ashley frowned. "I talked to her last night, and she didn't say she was going anywhere..."

Miranda's smile faded. "She's accompanying my mother and the Eltaran Rangers. They've gone to Earth to fetch my aunt."

"Oh," Ashley said slowly, "I didn't know you had family on Earth."

"It was a shock to me as well," Miranda said wryly. "As it is, it's a rather complicated tale that I'm unwilling to share until the whole matter is thoroughly sorted out."

Ashley nodded. "Understood."

Andros cleared his throat. "We have a room for the two of you here, or you can take the Megaship if you'd prefer. Most of the other accommodations are still functioning as shelters."

"As they are here." Miranda eyed Ashley, smiling again. "If you don't insist that we stay with you, I suspect Cassie will."

"Of course she will." Ashley laughed. "And I do, too."

Miranda only shook her head. "On the condition that you don't attempt to paint my fingernails again."

Behind her, she heard Andros's amused chuckle. Ashley made a show of rolling her eyes at him. "I haven't painted my own nails since I left Earth," she assured Miranda. "You're safe."

"Then I am grateful for your hospitality." Her tone was serious, but her expression laughed. "I look forward to seeing all of you tomorrow."

"Have a safe trip," Ashley told her. "We'll see you soon.

"That's weird," she said, taking a seat on the couch as the screen darkened. "I wonder what Miranda's aunt's doing on Earth."

Andros shrugged as he joined her. "You know, there's an old legend that says my people come from Earth."

Ashley tilted her head at him."I thought you said you'd never been there."

"Not me." He blinked at her, looking amused. "Karovans. A long time ago."

"Oh." For some reason, she'd thought the colony was only a generation old. "How long?"

"A few thousand years." Andros shrugged. "After a battle destroyed their home, they left the planet and wandered the stars."

Like he had, she thought, but she didn't tell him that.

Ashley scooted closer, laying her head on his shoulder. Andros pushed her away just long enough to pull his arm from between her and the back of the couch, and then he wrapped his arm around her and she snuggled up against him with a happy sigh.

"How'd they get off the planet?" she asked. "I didn't think they had spaceships then."

"They had magic, supposedly. And they had zords."

"Rangers?"

"You sound surprised." He shifted towards her, forcing her to raise her head again as her position grew uncomfortable. "Earth's always had Rangers; didn't you know that?"

For some reason, she felt that she should have. "I thought Jason's team was the first," she admitted.

"They were the first to be called on in three thousand years, but there were always Rangers," Andros said. "You'll always find people who can hold the Power, whether they know it or not."

"People like you," she murmured. Giving up, she sat and turned halfway to face him, leaning back against the arm of the couch.

"People like you, Ash," he said. "I--I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't stayed."

"Me either," she whispered. Leaning forward, Ashley wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him hard. "I was just missing my family during Christmas. I'll see them next month, and I wanted to celebrate your new year with you, but--it was harder than I thought it'd be to be away from them."

She felt Andros kiss the side of her head. "We'll go to Earth next year, if it's what you want," he promised her. "I don't mind."

"But I like your holidays, too," she protested as she let him go. The new year was celebrated with a week-long festival of food, family, and dancing, and she'd loved being a part of it all.

"Then you're a better Karovan than I am," he said. "At least Christmas is only one day."

"You had fun," she said. "You told me so."

"I--" Andros looked at her, and sighed. "I only danced because it was you."

"I know." Ashley leaned forward and pressed her mouth to his. "But you're good at it."

She grinned at the look on his face, and kissed him again before he could retort somehow. "Well, you are."

"Only with you," he murmured.

His nose bumped hers, and she giggled, sliding closer to kiss him more easily. "You just need more practice."

"No dance clubs," he said firmly. "You took me to that one on Earth, and--"

"That wasn't what I meant," she said quickly. "Dance clubs aren't your thing." They really weren't.

"Good." Despite the reassurance, he was watching her warily. "What _did_ you mean, then?"

"Zhane and Karone are out--where are they, by the way?" she asked.

Andros leaned his head back against the couch, and she watched his eyes slide shut. "They're... playing with kittens."

She blinked. "Kittens?"

"That's what Zhane says." Shaking his head, Andros opened his eyes again. "I thought it would be better not to ask."

Ashley stifled a giggle. Leaving him on the couch, she went to fiddle with the sound system. She watched comprehension dawn on his face as music filled the room, and he sighed.

"Ash..."

"Please?"

He stared at the hand she extended towards him, hesitating.

"It's just us," she reminded him. Ashley reached out to him again, and this time Andros caught her fingers and let her pull him to his feet.


End file.
